The Miracle 10 – How Can You Help Your Sciatica?

Are you one of the countless thousands of adults with sciatica? Do you wake up in the morning with back pain that ravels down your leg? Are there activities that make you sweat, as your sciatica gives you that stab in the buttocks?

Would you love to be like so many others and move around pain free? Being able to do everything you wish to do, not restricted as sciatica rules your life. Just imagine what you could do again.

Did you know there are 10 miracle tips that can help you to remove your sciatica and make life enjoyable once again? Here they are…

Miracle Tip 1: Rest – exercise is great at keeping you fit and strong, but once sciatica occurs it pays to ease up or stop exercising for now. The Piriformis muscle which is a common cause of sciatica, can get irritated with exercise that jars your body. So ease up on running, tennis, basketball, soccer and other explosive activity sports. Walking, swimming and other low impact sport is still good.

Miracle Tip 2: Stretch – the lower back muscles and buttock muscles tighten with sciatica. The Piriformis if tight can cause sciatica, but the muscles surrounding the area will also tighten when pain is present. A gentle stretch to each muscle group helps to remove tension form the area and allow your sciatica to heal faster.

To stretch the Piriformis (which helps directly with your sciatica) lie on your back and gently pull your knee towards your opposite shoulder. Hold this as you feel a tightness not pain, hold for 6 seconds, drop your leg down and repeat 5 times. This will help ease tension quickly. For the best stretches and the best ways to stretch this area just visit back stretches

Miracle Tip 3: Ice It – in the first 48 hours use ice. Ice helps to remove pain and any inflammation. Place ice on the area for 10 minutes only, then rest for 10 minutes and then repeat so that you have 3 sessions of ice on the area. Do this every few hours for the first day and then 3-4 times the next day. In this time most sciatica should ease and settle.

After 48 hours alternate ice with heat, finishing with 10 minutes of heat. Sciatica should settle by itself within a few days, if not the final tips are most important.

Miracle Tip 4: Posture – as most of you will sit in your job, sitting straight is important. Try supporting your lower back with a cushion or Lumbar Roll to ease pressure. Avoid sitting in chairs or couches that allow you to slouch. It may feel comfortable while sitting there, but getting out of the chair can cause more damage as you strain to get out. Posture is important, but the best advise is …

Miracle Tip 5: Move It – do sit or stand for more than 20-30 minutes. Any prolonged posture builds tension in your muscles and joints. After all you are a movement based system, so move it often. With movement you improve the blood supply to the area, you also help muscles to ease their tension and keep joints moving. Sciatica is caused by tight muscles and joints, movement helps ease this tightness.

Miracle Tip 6: Sleep On It – sleep is very restorative. Healing speeds up and damage is repaired quicker. If you find your sciatica is preventing you sleeping then follow the advice of tips 8 and 10.

Miracle Tip 7: Drink More - water I mean not booze. Muscles, joints and inflammation all respond well to fluid levels. If you are hydrated more then you heal faster. If you are like me and don’t like water as a drink, then don’t worry. Tea, juice, milk and even fruit and vegetables are now considered as part of your water intake. So increase this volume or squeeze a lemon into your water to add taste if this helps.

Miracle Tip 8: Pain Relief – if you need pain relief use it, whether it is an aspirin or a topical analgesic, if it eases pain then use it. Especially if it helps you sleep or do the activities you can’t avoid in your day. Over use or continued use of pain relief is not good. If pain persists seek help! But if pain is less you heal faster, so don’t think it is macho or strong to avoid it, if you need it use it.

Miracle Tip 9: Massage – gentle massage of the tight muscles will also ease tension. You can do this at home, ask your partner to gently rub the area and even use heat as a way to help the muscles relax. However, this may not be best in the first few days. Massage can cause more inflammation as will heat, so stretching is better in the first 48 hours, then after that use massage and heat. If you know a good massage therapist, then seek their advice as they will know what level of massage you need.

Miracle Tip 10: Help! - Yes if pain persists seek help. Whether it is a Chiropractor, Medical Doctor, Osteopath or Physical Therapist; seek help if pain persists. The earlier you seek treatment the quicker your sciatica will heal. To help your self you can use many safe and effective techniques that ease your sciatica quickly and prevent it returning. Best of all using self help techniques; you can save time and money and use these as soon as your sciatica happens rather than waiting to see if it doesn’t disappear.

Self help techniques can be used with all back pain as soon as it occurs. The quicker you help your self the quicker sciatica and back pain in general will disappear once and for all.